Executing transfer pricing strategies for NHI in Indonesia

The client

Founded in 1982 in Sichuan Province, China, New Hope is the largest private agricultural company and the largest feed producers in China, with an annual production capacity of 20 million tons. New Hope has more than 80,000 employees and 10,000 of the best professionals in their respective fields.
In 2006, New Hope began investing in Indonesia by establishing PT New Hope Indonesia (“NHI” or “the Company”). In 2008, Jakarta based NHI began commercial operations and now has expanded in various cities across Indonesia including Surabaya, Medan, Lampung, Semarang and Makassar. NHI comprises of animal feed industry, breeding and cultivation of laying and broiler chickens.

The challenge

One of the top challenges for a Chinese business when entering a new market is the language barrier. Cultural and language differences can hinder effective communication and NHI needed a team of local advisors in Indonesia to help them overcome these challenges. To avoid any miscommunications issues between employees and investors which can lead to misunderstanding, NHI needed an advisory team they could trust. All laws and regulations in Indonesia are stated in Indonesian language with minimum translation in English. Misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the laws and regulations can easily happen to non-native speakers and could be harmful to foreign companies and its operations in the jurisdiction of Indonesia.

Based on the Minister of Finance Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia No. 213/PMK.03/2016, certain taxpayers who have met certain conditions are required to prepare transfer pricing documentation under Section 34F of the Income Tax Act unless exemption for specified transactions apply. In this case, NHI who had transactions with related parties, met one of the requirements to prepare transfer pricing documentation. HLB Indonesia raised this issue with NHI’s management for careful consideration and immediate action.

How we helped

At HLB Indonesia, we have Chinese‐speaking staff who can communicate with Chinese clients in their native language. Meeting tax regulation regarding transfer pricing documentation is important for foreign investors who do business in Indonesia. Transfer pricing examination has come under regular scrutiny and is conducted by the tax authority to ensure that foreign companies, like NHI, were not shifting their profit to preferred jurisdictions.

Our experts helped and supported NHI to prepare their transfer pricing documentation under the prevailing rules. The job involved cross‐jurisdiction coordination to understand the whole structure of the Group. It was challenging because every jurisdiction has their own local rules and is often written in local languages. We had to closely cooperate and intensively communicate with counterparties to acquire information to prepare the transfer pricing documentation in accordance with Indonesian rules. We submitted the draft to the NHI head office and to the Group to obtain understanding on the transfer pricing methods applied and how allocation of functions, risks and assets to each related entity were involved before delivering this to the local tax authority. Transfer pricing documentation must be able to describe transactions and factual events in‐line with rules. Transfer pricing documentation must able to answer the challenges from tax office.

The result

We were able to deliver the transfer pricing documentation which satisfied both NHI and the regulatory perspective as well. Our approach utilised OECD Guidelines on transfer pricing documentation which is applicable among developed countries. OECD Guidelines have become a major reference to all jurisdictions. Although every jurisdiction has their own rules, they managed to have links and adaptation to OECD Guidelines. Therefore, preparing the documentation accordingly is an advantage.

By utilising the Guidelines in local transfer pricing documentation proved our ability to compile, summarise and apply transfer pricing rules from several jurisdiction into one report which is suitable for international application. It was a great achievement for HLB Indonesia.

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